The 40-year-old festival virgin… part one

By Les Dunn

I’ve managed to avoid going to a festival for more than 40 years, but finally, now I’m too old to really enjoy it, I’ve cracked.

My wife has cajoled me into going to Camp Bestival, the family-friendly festival, which opens its gates today at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.

We’ll be heading Dorset way tomorrow with our toddler, an unfeasibly complex borrowed tent and, as long as I manage to get to Sainsbury’s tonight, several plastic bottles of booze.

It’s quite a foodie event by all accounts, with The Feast Collective, an area of street food stalls, the major culinary attraction. Chef and music producer Martin Morales will be among the ‘Feast Collective Ambassadors’, and there’ll be everything from Korean barbecue to Ghanaian flavours, with local seafood and rib-sticking Alpine treats thrown in the mix.

In the spirit of thorough journalistic investigation I’ll doubtless be making a beeline for the Jam Jar Bar run by Josie da Bank (wife of festival organiser Rob da Bank) and seeking out the special beer, Bestivale, brewed by Isle of Wight brewer Goddards for the occasion.

If you’re going, maybe I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one swearing at our half-erected tent and not trying hard enough to get into the spirit. Please don’t rain.

Update on Monday if I survive…